This invention relates to a method and system for creating a tooling master model for manufacturing parts, such as turbine blades, and to a method for manufacturing parts.
Current tooling design processes reconstruct a part model, for example by extracting surfaces and adding features, to create an initial tooling model. The design of the initial tooling model is “manual,” meaning that it is performed by an expert tooling designer. Next, manufacturing compensation is performed. For example, for die casting, die surfaces must compensate for shrinkage. Typically, the initial tooling model is analyzed. However, current analysis processes are not integrated with the initial tooling model. Namely, the tooling geometry for the initial tooling model is manually meshed. If the results are unsatisfactory such that the tooling model is revised by the tooling designer, the tooling model must again be manually meshed to repeat the analysis.
There are a number of drawbacks to the existing tooling design processes. Current tooling design processes for parts with any complexity require a considerable amount of part-family and manufacturing specific engineering knowledge and judgment. Thus, the engineer performing the tooling design must be experienced in designing tooling for the same type of parts. This requirement increases tooling design time, and hence overall manufacturing cycle time, thereby reducing throughput due to the short supply of engineers possessing such part-family and manufacturing specific experience. Moreover, sole reliance on experienced engineers to apply tooling design rules, makes it easy to overlook design rules that could prove critical to the manufacture of the part. Further, the manual reconstruction of tooling geometry must be repeated if any changes are made to the part model. In addition, the tooling model must be manually meshed to perform an engineering analysis each time the tooling model is revised by the tooling designer.
It would therefore be desirable to develop a method and system for generating a tooling model that is integrated with a part design model, such that changes to the part design model are reflected in the tooling model. It would further be desirable for the method and system to automatically apply knowledge acquired through tooling design experience in generating the tooling model, in order to reduce the burdens of designing tooling for complex parts on experienced engineers and to reduce the possibility of human error. In addition, it would be desirable for the method and system to integrate information across a design system and databases, to ensure the consistency of application models used to develop and evaluate tooling geometries.